Concerning Hit Points/ Hit Die

[RedShirtNo5]

The point is that if one person rolls a 4 and the next person rolls a 1, doing just as well, the person who rolled the 4 will feel cheated.

I agree with Thanee and JW. In six years of using the minimum half method, I've never seen this problem.

-RedShirt

[edit b/c table not formating correctly yet].

 

[Jeff Wilder]

The point is that if one person rolls a 4 and the next person rolls a 1, doing just as well, the person who rolled the 4 will feel cheated.

If this is genuinely a problem (and I have to admit, I find the idea bizarre), then do what Thanee implicitly suggested: grab some blank polyhedrals (at least one guy has them at GenCon ... he calls them "Zen dice") and mark them properly for HP.

E.g., mark a d8 with 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Voila ... no more envy issues.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Say no rolls count unless done in front of you and the rest of the group. That way no one can have a problem with it.
Or do point by for abilities and make PCs take average HP on every roll (that means half numbers like you said).
Or any combination of the above (maybe either roll in front of everyone or take average etc)

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

Our group awards HD/2 + 1 for every level after first.

D4 = 3
D6 = 4
D8 = 5
D10 = 6
D12 = 7

This gives the characters a minor boost over average (an extra 1/2 hit point per level), but completely avoids the issue of two similar characters having significantly different HP totals.

This is exactly what we do, and it works just fine!

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

We have 2 methods: average hps or the standard 1 roll. Both of these were determined at 1st level.

This sounds more an issue of distrust, which no method is going to fix I think.

 

[Staffan]

In my campaign, if a player is dissatisfied with their hp roll they can roll another one, but one size lower (so a fighter who rolls a 2 can reroll with a d8). If they're still not satisfied, they can do it again, and again, until they're rolling a d2. There's not much point in rerolling with a d1.

 

[Crothian]

I feel a need to change because certain of my group may be a tad more honest than others, and it bothers those said players. Not that they cheat, but they might be more inclined to re-roll w/o mentioning it for abilities and hp.

I hate to break it to you but that actually is cheating.

 

[Plane Sailing]

If you want to roll HD, but prevent low rolls, the best method (IMHO) is to just roll once and if the roll is below one-half the HD (< 4 on a d8), it simply counts as one-half the HD (4 on a d8).

This is the method which I tend to use, and it works well. Other DMs in my group use the option that the PC rolls publically and the DM rolls secretly, the player decides whether to accept the visible PC roll or the secret DM roll. This nicely maintains an air of uncertainty about the process.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

This is the method which I tend to use, and it works well. Other DMs in my group use the option that the PC rolls publically and the DM rolls secretly, the player decides whether to accept the visible PC roll or the secret DM roll. This nicely maintains an air of uncertainty about the process.

I tried that method, and it worked okay, but I found two problems with it.

(1) It increased the average too much for my tastes.

(2) Although it statistically makes it less probable that a player will get totally hosed on HP rolls, it doesn't eliminate it. And when it does happen, it hurts all the worse for the unlikelihood.

Also, although I never had this problem, I could imagine some groups having a problem with the "Player vs. DM" aspect of the second-guessing involved. (You can avoid this, and achieve exactly the same result, by simply waiting to roll the second roll, and even having the player do it, rather than rolling simultaneously.)